Just days after the brutal killing of a North Lakes mother allegedly at the hands of two teenagers, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced new penalties for young offenders.
The Queensland government has announced additional sanctions for juvenile offenders and has been criticised as acting hastily. Three days after Queensland woman Emma Lovell’s death, Annastacia Palaszczuk proposes stiffer juvenile crime sentences.
In response to the alleged murder of a woman in her house north of Brisbane on Boxing Day, the Queensland government announced a series of severe penalties for juvenile offenders. Youth crime specialists have criticised this decision, calling it a kneejerk reaction that will not kerb crime.
On Thursday, Annastacia Palaszczuk made the declaration in the midst of media requests for action in reaction to the death of Emma Lovell, 41.
The construction of two new youth detention facilities, one of which had already been announced, increased penalties for those who brag about crimes on social media, and a maximum prison term of up to 10 years for car theft or 14 years if the offence involves violence or property damage and is committed at night, according to the premier.
Additionally, Palaszczuk committed $9.8 million for the appointment of a youth crime taskforce commander within Queensland police and for fast-track sentencing, an amendment to the Youth Justice Act that would require courts to take prior bail history and criminal activity into account when sentencing.
After two youths were detained for the suspected murder of Lovell, who was stabbed in the chest on Monday during an accused home invasion, the statement was made under heavy pressure from the opposition and Murdoch-owned media. Lee, her 43-year-old husband, had a non-life-threatening back injury.
According to Siyavash Doostkah of the Queensland Youth Affairs Network, it was challenging to read the government’s decision as a kneejerk reaction or a reflexive response.
He added that we have been anticipating this because it has been a pattern and is undoubtedly another knee-jerk response from a government that ignores experts and keeps implementing antiquated policies.
